By Murtala Issah
The Northern Regional Directorate of the Ghana Health Service has launched a regional polio vaccination campaign to prevent an outbreak of the virus in the region.
The launch follows the detection of the virus in water sampled from some drains in the Tamale and Sagnerigu Municipalities.
According to the Deputy Northern Regional Director of Health in charge of Public Health, Dr. Hilarious Abiwu, the exercise is targeted at all children under 5.
The first round of the campaign began on Thursday, September 1, 2022. In May this year, the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research released a report that showed the presence of vaccine-derived poliovirus in the Northern regional capital.
Following the report, further investigations were carried out and it was found that children vaccinated against the virus were contaminating the environment with the virus through open defecation.
Dr. Hilarious Abiwu said the development posed a health threat to children, particularly those that have not been immunised against the virus.
The health directorate is urging all parents with children under 5 to take advantage of the campaign to protect their children against the deadly virus.